Studying
by Kelly Holden
Summary: [Li'l Elvis Jones and The Truckstoppers] PostCanon, Len eavesdrops on El and Lionel while they study for their School certificate. slash Li'l Elvis JonesLionel Dexter, Len POV


Author note: 'Li'l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers' is an Aussie cartoon from the late '90s ('97 or so), which is being repeated on the Aussie ABC at time of writing. I offer a summary prior to the fic in the hopes that this fic can be enjoyed by those unfamiliar with Li'l Elvis.

Summary of Canon:

Li'l Elvis was left on Len and Grace Jones's front doorstep in a guitar case, by a glowing golden Cadillac (as is told in the opening credits). Grace and Len, Elvis Presley fans from way back, are convinced the foundling is Elvis's son, left by his ghost.

Cut forward eight-odd years, and they have turned their musically gifted son into an Elvis impersonator and local tourist attraction for their roadhouse in tiny little outback town Wannapoo. Local big-shot/billionaire W.C. Moore is mining under the town illegally for the apparently magical mineral Berkonium, and is convincing Wannapoo's people to take out unneeded and unwise loans, so he can foreclose and own Wannapoo (and its Berkonium) lock, stock and barrel.

At about this time, 'Mama' Rig, a truckie, decides that she can't take proper care of her daughter Janet on the road, and asks Len and Grace if they can look after Janet, to the disgust of both Janet and Elvis, Elvis not wanting to share his room, and Janet wanting to stay with her mother.

Elvis is sick of not being allowed to be his own person and make his own music, and ends up forming a band, The Truckstoppers, with his best mate Lionel Dexter, son of the local school ma'am, on didgeridoo, and unwilling houseguest Janet on drums, while Elvis himself is vocals and guitar. W.C. Moore knows saleable talent when he sees it, and decides to promote Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers, using the threat of his ability to ruin the town to blackmail them into cooperation. He uses his influence to change the town's name to Li'l Memphis, and the cartoon is underway.

In the episode 'Schmiko', referenced briefly in this fic, Elvis is forced to play the lead in a 50's musical called 'Schmiko', and since Janet ended up as the female lead (for the chance to kiss town bad-boy Spike, favourite for the lead prior to Li'l Elvis's involvement IIRC), she would have had to kiss him (which is a bad thing, since Janet and El had a visceral 'I'll be your friend, but I don't want to touch you, ever' thing going on by this episode), were it not for Lionel's ingenuity. In the last episode, W.C. Moore gets his just deserts, Li'l Memphis goes back to being Wannapoo, The Truckstoppers go back to playing for the fun of it, and the world forgets them all almost instantaneously.

* * *

Len Jones cracked open his son's bedroom door. Li'l Elvis and his best mate Lionel were supposedly studying, but given that their School Certificate was only next month and the boys were best friends, he thought he better give them a nudge, make sure they really were studying, not goofing off, since El was a born goof-off and while Lionel rarely got the opportunity, thanks to his mother, he could goof-off with a vengeance given the chance.  
There were muffled damp sounds that Len couldn't place, a wet smack that sounded oddly like kissing people pulling apart, a giggle, then Lionel whispering,  
"El, get _off_. We're supposed to be studying."  
"This is studying," said Li'l Elvis in a low voice that sounded, to his father, horrifyingly like it was intended to be seductive.  
"We used the studying biology-slash-anatomy-slash-PDH/PE excuse last week," said Lionel, in a quiet but firm voice. "_I_ am studying maths because my mother will kill me if my marks aren't perfect, and _you_ are going to study music, because your parents will never forgive themselves if the person they _still_ think was left on their doorstep by the ghost of Elvis Presley flunks Year 10 music just because he thinks Elizabethan Madrigals are boring."  
"'Grease' I could handle studying, between Mum, Dad, and the Schmiko thing back when we were famous, I'm used to having the '50s shoved down my throat; 'Greensleeves' is just mind-numbing."  
"'You better shape up/'cos I need a man/and my heart is set on you'" sang Lionel in response. It was a peculiar effect, a young man with an Aboriginal accent singing in falsetto with a fake American accent, and Len marvelled at the fact that he could think about the way it sounded when Lionel Dexter had just sung _those_ words at his son and not been flattened for it.  
"Yeah, yeah, I get the point," grumbled Li'l Elvis. "You love that book more than you love me."  
"This book? This is a textbook. Make that statement again sometime when I'm holding a copy of the Silmarilion, and I might agree with you." There was another wet smack, no doubt in Len's mind now that it was a kiss, and Lionel added, "What's closed cadence?"  
"I... Oh, shit, I am so gonna fail. You don't even _do_ music."  
"I don't know either, I just spotted the term in your textbook. Now study."  
"Aye, Aye, dear," said Li'l Elvis, and there was no more sound other than the occasional muttered formula or important date.  
Len closed the door, then tip-toed off to find Grace and tell her, though he wasn't quite sure what. 


End file.
